B R I C K B U L L E T I N

Domestic revival: Panter Hudspith, Proctor & Matthews, PRP, RCKa, Re-Format, and Weston Williamson profiled Learning from Lutyens: Hopkins Architects in London Peter Behrens’ Hoechst headquarters in Frankfurt First person: John Tuomey; plus Brick Awards 2011 WINTER 2011 Air cooled: Perforated brick facades by Munkenbeck 2 • BB WINTER 2011 Brick Bulletin Winter 2011

contents House style 4 FIRST PERSON The brick domestic architec - John Tuomey on Belfast’s Lyric Theatre – ture of Panter Hudspith, RCKa, supreme winner of the 2011 Brick Awards Re-Format, Weston Williamson, 5 BRICK AWARDS 2011 Proctor & Matthews, and PRP, Showcase of all 15 winners. profiled in this issue, reveals a 8 PROJECTS rich diversity not only in design Haverstock Associates, José Cruz Ovalle, and innovation, but in the MCR Architects, Hopkins Architects, Onix, reasons why brick remains Michelgroup, and Liddicoat & Goldhill. uniquely appropriate for hous - 14 PROFILE ing. John Tuomey also offers a John Ramshaw talks housing with Panter valuable insight into working Hudspith, Proctor & Matthews, RCKa, with brick on Belfast’s Lyric Re-Format, PRP, and Weston Williamson. Theatre, which is the supreme 20 PRECEDENT winner of the Brick Awards. Peter Behrens’ Hoechst hq in Frankfurt. Sarah Huelin 22 TECHNICAL Air cooled: Perforated brick facades To find out more about the bricks or pavers in featured projects, or to submit work, email by Munkenbeck & Partners. [email protected] or phone 020 7323 7030.

BDA member companies

Blockleys Brick t +44 (0)1952 251933 www.blockleys.co.uk Bovingdon Brickworks t +44 (0)1442 833176 www.bovingdonbricks.co.uk Broadmoor Brickworks t +44 (0)1594 822255 [email protected] Bulmer Brick & Tile Co t +44 (0)1787 269 232 [email protected] Caradale Traditional Brick t +44 (0)1501 730671 www.caradale.co.uk Carlton Brick t +44 (0)1226 711521 www.carltonbrick.co.uk Charnwood Forest Brick t +44 (0)1509 503203 www.charnwoodforest.co.uk Chartwell Brickworks t +44 (0)1732 463712 www.chartwellbrickworks.com Coleford Brick & Tile t +44 (0)1594 822160 www.colefordbrick.co.uk Dunton Brothers t +44 (0)1494 772111 www.duntonbros.co.uk Freshfield Lane Brickworks t +44 (0)1825 790350 www.freshfieldlane.co.uk Furness Brick & Tile Co t +44 (0)1229 462411 www.furnessbrick.com Hanson UK t +44 (0)870 609 7092 www.hanson.com/uk HG Matthews t +44 (0)1494 758212 www.hgmatthews.com Ibstock Brick t +44 (0)1530 261999 www.ibstock.co.uk Ketley Brick t +44 (0)1384 78361 www.ketley-brick.co.uk Lagan Brick t +353 (0)42 9667317 www.laganbrick.com Michelmersh Brick & Tile t +44 (0)1794 368506 www.michelmersh.co.uk AJ Mugridge t +44 (0)1952 586986 www.ajmugridge.co.uk Northcot Brick t +44 (0)1386 700551 www.northcotbrick.co.uk Ormonde Brick t +353 (0)56 4441323 www.ormondebrick.ie Phoenix Brick Company t +44 (0)1246 471576 www.bricksfromphoenix.co.uk Tyrone Brick t +44 (0)28 8772 3421 www.tyrone-brick.com The York Handmade Brick Co t +44 (0)1347 838881 www.yorkhandmade.co.uk WH Collier t +44 (0)1206 210301 www.whcollier.co.uk Wienerberger t +44 (0)161 4918200 www.wienerberger.co.uk

contacts Executive editor: Sarah Huelin t: 020 7323 7030 e: [email protected] Brick Development Association, The Building Centre, 26 Store Street, London, WC1E 7BT The BDA represents manufacturers of clay brick and pavers in the UK and Ireland and promotes excellence in the architectural, structural and landscape applications of brick and pavers. The BDA provides practical, technical and aesthetic advice and information through its website www.brick.org.uk, in its numerous publications and over the phone. Frontispiece ISSN 0307-9325 Published by the BDA ©2011 Editorial/design: Architecture Today plc Onix’s mixed-use project in Slotervaart, Amsterdam, includes apartments, a mosque and school (ph: Peter de kan). cover Social housing in ARCHITECTURE carabanchel, Madrid, TODAY by José cruz Ovalle (ph: roland Halbe). BB WINTER 2011 • 3 FIRST PERSON

John Tuomey of O’Donnell & Tuomey on the Lyric Theatre, Belfast, supreme winner of the 2011 Brick Awards.

Building the Lyric in Belfast brick (Brick internalised, and by necessity, mostly brick skin to show how the loads are carried. Bulletin, Summer 2011) was a first principle windowless. We set out to play with these The auditorium has its own special timber of our design. We hoped that the design restrictions, making a cluster of solid sculp - lining, an acoustic instrument in a concrete might be seen as emerging out of the conti - tural forms, with profiled edges clearly case. Despite the weight and density of its nuity of its context – Belfast is an angular visible on the city skyline. The brick skin construction the building still feels lively, brick city. We chose a red brick to match the wraps each of the three functional elements: light and airy inside and out. It feels great to colour and texture of the typical Belfast the auditorium, studio, and rehearsal room. see it full of people and it seems to have brick. The site for the new theatre is located This outer crust runs uninterrupted from been adopted already as a popular meeting at the intersection of the red brick street outside to inside, enhancing the acoustic place in Belfast. We hope it continues to grid with the serpentine sweep of the River separation of parts. The brickwork brings a thrive with theatrical and social activity. Lagan. Each angle of the plan, and the feeling of raw material and archaic construc - This building is one of a series of urban resultant number of brick specials for its tion into the interior civic space of stair halls projects that we have built out of brick. The many corner conditions, are related to the and circulation areas. Thick-sliced sandstone Timberyard (Brick Bulletin, Summer 2009) peculiar restrictions of the site. The geome - and solid hardwood add to the feeling of is a social housing scheme that builds back try is a little complicated but the brickwork robust permanence given by natural materi - into the architectural character of our home simplifies the visual complexity. als. The concrete structure reveals itself at town of Dublin. We are currently on site in Theatre buildings are by their nature slab edges, sometimes cutting through the London with a site-specific design for a new student centre for the London School of Economics. In these buildings we have enjoyed working with brick, stretching out areas of the elevation to increase the sense of surface, and cutting into the skin to create depth and shadow. We like the impre - cise texture and the variety given by clay pig - mentation in contrast to very precise setting out lines and crafted construction. We find that builders and bricklayers like to be asked to pay attention to the visual refinement of their work. In the end everything depends on the quality of workmanship and materi - Top The Lyric Theatre in Belfast was named supreme als. With brickwork you can make radical winner of the 2011 Brick Awards. It also won the best buildings that feel both new and old, and public building category (brickwork contractor: Gilbert- strange and familiar at the same time. Ash NI; brick: Ibstock Brick – Leicester Red). Above The student centre at the London School of Economics will include a media centre, learning cafe, John Tuomey co-founded O’Donnell & Tuomey pub, exercise studio, activities space, and roof terrace. Architects in 1988, and is professor of architectural Left Timberyard social housing scheme in Dublin design at University College Dublin. (ph: Dennis Gilbert). 4 • BB WINTER 2011 BRICK AWARDS

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Winners of the 2011 Brick Awards are The 2011 Brick Awards ceremony was held The Lyric Theatre, Belfast, by O’Donnell east London, by Maccreanor Lavington (3), selected from a record number of entries at the Marriott Grosvenor Square Hotel in & Tuomey Architects (First Person, oppo - won the award for best housing development London on 2 November after an exhaustive site) was named the supreme winner as well (26 or more units) . The jury praised this process in which the jury, chaired by Bob as best public building . It is conceived on an project, planned around a landscaped court - Allies (Allies & Morrison) examined a epic scale yet manages to harmonise with yard, as an exemplary inner-city development. record number of entries, and visited the urban context both in its massing and Complementing the variegated brickwork shortlisted projects across the country. materiality. The jury was particularly are large gold-painted, laser-cut balconies. impressed by the scheme’s beautiful interiors The award for volume house building 4 and by the skillful use of brick in enhancing went to Barratt Homes for three projects: its street and riverside setting. Montreal House B2 in Canada Water, East Winner of the best housing development London (4), designed by PKS Architects; (1-5 units) category was 31-32 Dolben Street Bluebell Camphill phase 1 in Nuneaton, in Southwark, south London, by Association Warwickshire, by Barratt Homes Mercia; and of Ideas (1). The tightly-planned building Clover Mead phase 1 in Lawley Village, maximises its constricted urban site, while Shropshire, by Barratt Homes West Midlands. simultaneously reinforcing the grain and character of its surroundings. Copper-glazed 1 31-32 Dolben Street; architect: Association of Ideas; brickwork contractor: Masters Construction; brick: bricks introduce an unexpected shimmering Ibstock Brick – Copper Glazed. surface on the street elevations. 2 Bermondsey Island; architect: Urban Salon; brickwork Best housing development (6-25 units) was contractor: Flaherty Brickwork; brick: Ibstock Brick – awarded to Bermondsey Island, designed by Tilebrick. 3 Union Phase 2 Block B; architect: Maccreanor Urban Salon (2). Richly textured blue-black Lavington; brickwork contractor: Rapid Brickwork; brick: bricks to the side elevations closely resemble Ibstock Brick – Cheddar Brown, Ibstock Milburn Ashen wall-hung clay tiles. Incorporating corner Brown Blend, Ibstock Smooth Buff. brick specials, each mortarless facade has 4 Montreal House; architect: PKS Architects; brickwork contractor: Barratt East London; brick: Ibstock Brick – only one visible movement joint. Rotherhithe Blend: Atlas Smooth Red, Staffs Blue Union Phase 2 Block B in Bromley-by-Bow, Brindled Smooth, Staffs Slate Blue Smooth. BB WINTER 2011 • 5 edifices, the dark brick facades are inter - 7 spersed with panels of cream-coloured glazed brick and recessed aluminium windows to create an intriguing chequerboard effect. Wire-cut bricks provide sharp arrises in keeping with the hotel’s clean modern lines. Lawn House in Burbage, Leicestershire, by Penny Shankar Design (10) won the innovative use of brick and clay category. Designed to Level 6 of the Code for Sustainable Homes, the house is believed to be the UK’s first private development constructed using prefabricated brick and block cavity walls. Measuring up to nine metres in length and weighing up to seven tonnes, the masonry panels feature recessed 5mm mortar joints. The Imperial Ordnance Survey headquar - ters in Southampton, by Broadway Malyan (11) won the best craftsmanship award. Designed to shield the offices from the M27, an acoustic wall is clad with a single brick type that is cut and set in various imaginative ways to create a richly textured surface. Belfast-based Gilbert-Ash NI was named specialist brickwork contractor of the year for its work on three projects: the Lyric Theatre by O’Donnell & Tuomey Architects,

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John McAslan & Partners’ Charles Carter award. The creative reuse of recovered fabric views out. The judges applauded the project Pilot Street apartments by White Ink Building at Lancaster University (5) won from the existing buildings includes over as a clear winner and an exemplary piece of Architects and Victoria Square by BDP (12). best education building . Praised by the jury 1870 arch voussoir bricks and windows. New modern civic architecture. The outdoor space award went to Francis as ‘elegant, well proportioned and carefully bricks were seamlessly colour-matched to the The worldwide brick award went to & Michael Edwards for its reworking of a detailed’, the building is clad almost entirely originals by exploiting the same clay seam Anagram Architects for Gairola House in Gertrude Jekyll landscape at Edwin Lutyens’ in a smooth dark brown/grey engineering- and carefully controlling the firing process. Gurgaon, northern India (8). Bold massing Sullingstead country house in Godalming, type brick. A double-height colonnade on Dundee House (7), Dundee City Council’s and intricate brick corbelling contribute to Surrey (13). Clay slips and bricks on edge the south elevation has an impressive brick- new headquarters designed by Reiach & an inventive and highly idiosyncratic multi- form swirling geometric paving patterns, faced soffit, while recessed colour-matched Hall, was named best international project . residence apartment building. while clamp-fired stock bricks were used in mortar joints ensure clean, crisp lines. Incorporating deep reveals and a ground- Winner of the best commercial building the construction of the rose garden and Sympathetically restored by Hopkins floor loggia, the highly modulated brick category was Stephenson Bell Architects’ octagonal garden house. The centrepiece of Architects, the Newton and Arkwright build - facades not only instil a sense of perma - Holiday Inn Express in Manchester (9). the design is a brick and stone fountain ings at Nottingham Trent University (6) nence and dignity, but also provide solar Envisaged as a ‘weighty’ building echoing based on whorl-like, four-centre disk motif received the refurbishment and renovation control, maintenance access and generous many of the city’s most visually satisfying frequently used by Lutyens. 6 • BB WINTER 2011 13 10

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5 Charles Carter Building; architect: John McAslan & Building Products – Yorkshire Red Blend (prefabricated Partners; brickwork contractor: PLF Brickwork/ masonry cavity panels). Advanced Construction Systems; brick: Weinerberger – 11 Imperial Ordnance Survey HQ; architect: Broadway Midnight Unsanded. Malyan; brickwork contractor: Kier Southern; brick: 6 Newton & Arkwright Buildings; architect: Hopkins Ibstock Brick – Priory Red. Architects; brickwork contractor: Irvine Whitlock; brick: 12 Victoria Square; architect: BDP; brickwork contractor: Ibstock Brick – Coalville. Gilbert-Ash NI; brick: Ibstock Brick – Birtley Olde English. 7 Dundee House; architect: Reiach & Hall; brickwork 13 Sullingstead; architect: Francis & Michael Edwards; contractor: Lesterose Scotland; brick: Petersen/Taylor contractor: Bluefish Landscapes; brick: Michelmersh Maxwell – Petersen D71. Holdings – Freshfield Lane Handmade Facing, Charnwood 8 Gairola House; architect: Anagram Architects; brick - Horsham Mix, Michelmersh Mellow Creasing Tile. work contractor: SS Builders; brick: locally available brick. Jury Bob Allies (Allies & Morrison), Joanna van Heyningen 9 Holiday Inn Express; architect: Stephenson Bell; (van Heyningen & Haward), John Roberts (engineer), Peter brickwork contractor: Russell Construction; brick: Bonfield (BRE), Neil Benningfield (Neil Benningfield & Michelmersh Brick Holdings – Blockleys Smooth Black. Assocs), Michael Hammett (brickwork consultant), Andrew Stroud (Worshipful Company of Tylers and Bricklayers), 8 10 Lawn House; architect: Penny Shankar Design; brickwork contractor: Irvine Whitlock; brick: Hanson Michael Driver (formerly of the BDA), Alan Pert (Nord). BB WINTER 2011 • 7 PROJECTS

Teaching materials

Tuke School in Peckham Rye, south-east First, the design concept was that sensory London, aims to help pupils with special stimulation should play a role in learning, educational needs to achieve everything aiding cognitive development. ‘To that end,’ within their grasp. Its new building is says the architect, ‘the envelope had to be intended to support that aim, and brick, distinctive and recognisable as students says architect Haverstock Associates, made a approach and leave the school, reinforcing significant contribution in three ways. the routine and familiarity which many rely on to be calm, learn and enjoy.’ Second, the continuation of the brick internally in a formal ‘tactile trail’ running along the main circulation route provides wayfinding both for sighted students and those who could use touch and sound to navigate their way around the building. And third, brick was important in urban design terms, giving the school a civic presence in a primarily residential area.

Photos: Dennis Gilbert. 8 • BB WINTER 2011 Ahead of the curve Instead, the architect aimed to open up the block from the middle outwards. A diagonal passage winds through the body of the build - ing, linking opposite corners. The two curved, extended bodies thereby created ‘result in the formation of a block that is not closed off,’ says Ovalle. ‘This sinuosity gives the built construc - tion a certain organic character evident in the spatiality of the park, namely its variety – The new suburb of Carabanchel, north of a block with a variation of space being the Madrid, is developing a reputation for exotic purpose of the project.’ and experimental housing. Foreign Office The curviness of the plan is also picked up in Architects, MVRDV and Morphosis are among the vertical organisation. ‘The variation in the the raft of well-known architects to have made roof profiles responds to both the spatiality an impression there in recent years. of the sky and also to that of the ground,’ Horizontal section The newest arrival is a block of 101 social says Ovalle, ‘as the existing unevenness of flats, designed by Chilean architect José Cruz the ground is present inside, thus producing a Ovalle. Located at the end of an elongated variation in the levels between different flats strip of park, the ‘open’ condition of its on the same floor.’ suburban setting was a fundamental driver of Brick was selected as a ‘material devoid of the design, says Ovalle, leading the architect any kind of artifice’, providing a counterpoint to propose ‘something quite different to a to the purely visual conception of space “closed block”, as you might find in the centre through its sensuous tactility. And rather than of Madrid, which with its perimeter built suggesting homogeneity, Ovalle contends, the around a central patio creates the maximum tones of the soft brick contribute to the sense spatial difference between the inner and outer of variety that is the project’s hallmark. structure of the block, like front and back.’ Photos: Roland Halbe. Ground floor plan

BB WINTER 2011 • 9 In praise of shadows

The Shadow House in north London was the cut face of coal’ to reflect the tough, built by architects David Liddicoat and industrial context of nearby King’s Cross. Sophie Goldhill for their own use, but is Frameless glazing and accents of white also ‘an experiment in making a generic marble create counterpoints, and echo the small city house’. Having worked for well- plasterwork of adjacent Victorian houses. known international firms, the pair have The substructure comprises reinforced different ambitions for their own practice, concrete ground beams and piles, while the Liddicoat & Goldhill, eschewing ‘flimsy superstructure is in loadbearing brick. formalism’ and instead seeking ‘to make Larch glulam beams are laid directly into modest and characterful places to live.’ the brickwork to support the roof and The house is built on a 38-square-metre floors. Floors are finished in polished con - scrap of land in a conservation area, which crete, poured in-situ. Budgetary constraints had been the subject of several failed plan - and the decision to act as main contractor ning applications when the architects limited the architects’ palette to primary aquired it in 2006. Their design addresses materials, but ‘there is great poetry in planners’ concerns, notably in the use of practical things, so we revelled in finding a slim-format (15x102x65mm) engineering simple means of assembling the house.’ brick with a black glazed finish ‘resembling Photos: Tom Gildon (right); Keith Collie.

10 • BB WINTER 2011 Sectional silhouette

Penleigh and Essendon Junior Boys School, in the north-western suburbs of Melbourne, Australia, began in an Italianate mansion on windy hill, opposite Essendon Football Club. The school building is exceptional in a residential area where typical Australian heritage houses (Federation homes) domi - nate. When inserting a new two-storey classroom block, McBride Charles Ryan Architects wanted to reflect its unusual urban condition. Moreover, “this building needed to be a unique acknowledgment of an important threshold stage in the boys’ school life,” says the architect. “Everyone involved wanted more than just good accommodation; we wanted a building of the imagination.” The 1650 square metre building takes the silhouette of a Federation home, formed of black glazed bricks and suggesting a house that has been up-scaled, extruded and sliced. “The front of the building might be described perhaps as a haunted house,” says the architect. “The centre – the extrusion – is vaguely a Shinto shrine, while the striped brickwork of the rear, which interfaces with the school’s sports grounds, reinforces the building’s location and forms a robust grandstand.”

Photos: John Gollings.

Mixed messages

The garden-city like character of Slotervaart in Amsterdam Nieuw-West is brought into the middle of a mixed-use development designed by Onix, comprising housing, a school and children’s day centre and a mosque, around publicly-accessible landscaped courtyards. Externally, however, the aim was to reinforce the urbanity of the neighbourhood, and reflect the ‘brick landscape’ of existing buil - dings. A hand-moulded brick in two sizes was selected for use across the scheme, used both separately and together in different situations. To differentiate it from the rest of the pro - gramme, the mosque has a richly decorated facade, in which glazed bricks form patterns that draw on Moroccan and Dutch brickwork traditions. It is angled to face Mecca, breaking the otherwise orthogonal grid of the plan.

BB WINTER 2011 • 11 After Lutyens Henrietta Barnett School sits in the heart Hopkins Architects was originally asked to itself the centrepiece of the Suburb. Lutyens of north London’s Hampstead Garden evaluate the entire school campus, including used a distinctive 50mm-high brick in red Suburb, a conservation area. Founded in the possible refurbishment of the listed and grey, laid in Flemish bond, which the 1911, the main body of the school is a buildings and the treatment of external new buildings complement. A blend of three Lutyens-designed Grade II* listed building. spaces. Its masterplan reduced the need for hand-made red bricks with grey glazed Since the early 1960s, some 17 schemes new buildings to 1,100 square metres. headers give an independence to the new have been prepared for its extension but The new buildings were conceived as wings buildings while respecting the brickwork none received planning permission. of the substantially larger Lutyens building, tones and textures of the school buildings and Suburb homes. Loadbearing brick piers, one-and-a-half bricks thick and tapering at first-floor level to receive the splay of brick arches, take the loads from the roof and precast floor beams. Points of load transfer are expressed at first- floor level by slightly protruding bricks and at roof level by exposed precast nodes. Brick spandrel panels are recessed from the piers by half a brick, having themselves a reduced structural load. Other variations in plane are achieved with a continuous brick plinth just above ground level, and recessed mortar joints to delineate panels at the eastern eleva - tions – both techniques used in Lutyens’ building. Cant brick specials form a ‘birdsmouth’ detail where the tapering piers meet at the corners of the building. Photos Richard Brine; Simon Kennedy (left). 12 • BB WINTER 2011 Pinstripe pointing

The Neubau Service-Center in the city of Ulm, Germany, is a ‘one-stop-shop’ contact point between citizens, the local authority and public utility companies. Designed by architect Michelgroup, the building is in a prime location, opposite the town hall and a stone’s throw from the Münsterplatz in Neue Mitte, the new city centre. The building was constructed above an existing vaulted cellar, whose historic signif - icance required that it should be preserved. A lighting sculpture between the ground and first floors divides the Center into two zones, ‘communication’ and ‘information’. It symbolises air, light and water, and illumi - nates the building from within at night. The facade uses a solid-coloured grey- brown clay brick with a peeled surface, laid vertically. At just 40mm wide, and combined with a narrow mortar joint, the vertical bricks “lend an especially elegant dress to the slim structure,” says the architect, com - paring the building’s skin to a pinstripe suit. Depending on the structural design, the facing bricks vary between 125mm and 490mm in height. The colour of the roof is close to that of the brick, contributing to the building’s monolithic appearance (roof outlets have been minimised so that they don’t disturb the view from the cathedral). The gable-fronted form is modelled on historic precedent, but traditional elements are reinterpreted in contemporary ways: the box-type windows, for example, have integrated shading systems.

Photos: GIMA-Ziegel/Martin J Duckek .

BB WINTER 2011 • 13 PROFILE o

Brick has played an important role in some of the UK’s best housing projects in recent years. John Ramshaw discusses the material with Panter Hudspith, Proctor & Matthews, PRP, RCKa, Re-Format, and Weston Williamson.

The problems that currently beset the UK housing industry are far-reaching and well documented. But while the number of starts on site remains too low, and much of what has been built in recent years has been of poor quality, there remain grounds for optimism. Not least the emergence of a generation of architects with a strong interest in housing. And among them, practices such as Panter Hudspith, Proctor & Matthews, PRP, RCKa, Re-Format, and Weston Williamson are actively exploring and re-evaluating the potential of brick – a traditional yet perennially popular material. A point of consensus among several of these practices is a feeling of dissatisfaction with what could loosely be classed as contemporary cladding materials. ‘I think a lot of the more innovative housing schemes from the 1980s and 90s incorpo - rated new materials and materialism itself became an important part of the architectural expression’, says Simon Hudspith of Panter Hudspith. ‘But then two things happened: architects ran out of new materials to experiment with, and they began to experience problems with some of the poor quality renders, timber cladding and metal panels they had been using, both in terms of their contextual appropriateness and durability.’ Stephen Proctor of Proctor & Matthews echoes this sentiment. He feels that the textural and domestic qualities inherent in brick are now find - ing favour over the highly engineered rainscreen cladding solutions that have dominated architec - tural palettes in recent times. ‘The other thing’, says Proctor candidly, ‘is that we have all used stuc - co, renders and timber cladding in the last few decades, and it is fair to say that some of these buildings look quite tired, particularly where main - tenance regimes have not been adhered to.’ Steve Humphreys, director at Weston Williamson, sites the over-familiarity and under performance of multi-material facades as con - tributing factors to the resurgent interest in brick. ‘One of our concerns is the fragmentation of the delivery process, particularly in the case of design and build procurement’, he explains. ‘The more complicated the material palette, the greater the risk in terms of delivering on-site quality. Each additional material interface risks further weaken - ing the design in terms of its execution. By paring down the palette or by using a single material, such as brick, we can exert much greater control over the end result.’ Humphreys also acknowledges the

14 • BB WINTER 2011 debt owed to recent Dutch housing, and closer to Steve Humphreys. ‘But with brick you still have the Top/above Ascott House, Colchester, Essex, by Proctor & Matthews home, the Stirling Prize-winning Accordia develop - option of inverting the colour bias, or exploring the Architects (completion June 2012). Designed to provide transitional accom - modation for homeless families and individuals, the scheme comprises six ment in Cambridge, in raising the profile of brick possibilities of scale in terms of module or bond. buildings around shared landscaped courtyards. Brick storage units provide among UK architects. Another UK influence, It can therefore bring a lot of subtle benefits structural support for the courtyard cloisters at ground- and first-floor level. Panels of textured or perforated brickwork endow the facades with a sense suggest by Re-Format’s Matt Swanton, is the work to a project even if it is being largely contextual.’ of rhythm, scale and surface expression. of practices such as Sergison Bates, which demon - Brick’s robustness and longevity are also seen as Above left Station Grove, London, by Proctor & Matthews Architects strates both brick’s plasticity and potential for key drivers. ‘Brick stands the test of time’, attests (2010). The four-storey terrace provides a hierarchy of public and private spaces, as well as street continuity. Horizontal bands of terracotta-coloured tectonic expression. Burgess, ‘It can last 100 to 200 years and generally brick infilled with panels of projecting dark grey brick modulate the wall Context is also a driver. Simon Hudspith points to matures with age. Other materials can weather plane and add texture. The street entrances are incorporated into the balcony structures aiding legibility (ph: Tim Crocker). his own desire to explore the relationship between badly and deteriorate if they are not maintained Opposite top Bear Lane, London, by Panter Hudspith Architects (2009). new and existing buildings, while PRP partner Rick correctly.’ Simon Hudspith believes that brick’s Inspired by the interlocking basalt columns of the Giant’s Causeway in Burgess takes a pragmatic view: ‘With the increased longevity has a symbolic quality. ‘It has sense of per - Northern Ireland, the stacked masonry blocks are constructed from two contrasting stock bricks. Pre-cast brick structural lintels separate the ‘brick focus on localism, there is a need to involve local manence’, he suggests. ‘If you go back to the nine - boxes’ and allow the window reveals to be flush with the facades or groups and gain their acceptance of new projects, if teenth-century, for instance, whether or not you recessed by 200mm. Exposed brick slip soffit panels are used on the balconies to reinforce the volumetric composition. The soffit panels formed we are to achieve planning permission, he explains. were building colliery houses, viaducts or railway part of the carpentry package, with the brickwork sub-contractor pointing ‘Brick allows us to do this through its vast palette, stations, there was a consistency to the material that up the slips to match the facing brickwork (ph: Keith Collie). which offers many possibilities for a building’s was used. All these buildings have stood up well in Opposite below Royal Road, London, by Panter Hudspith Architects (completion August 2012). Won in competition, the 96-unit development character, from warm and inviting to strong and terms of their longevity, and clients, irrespective of will provide affordable homes for Southwark residents. Brick was specified guarded.’ For Weston Williamson, such constraints whether or not they have had any design training, for reasons of context, robustness and ease of maintenance. The main blocks and projecting drawer elements are expressed using two types of are a stimulus to explore the potential of the mate - seem to understand the permanence of brick’. buff-coloured bricks. The bricks were chosen for their warm appearance rial. ‘Contextual issues frequently inform material Tim Riley, director of RCKa, concurs with this. and association with nearby Georgian buildings. Further articulation is choices, particularly in conservation areas’, says ‘Brick is a material that is very well understood and provided by sawtooth brick patterns adjacent to the windows. A ground level plinth is built of split-faced reconstituted stone and brick-slip infills. BB WINTER 2011 • 15 valued by clients and residents alike’, he says. ‘It is the principal attraction. ‘Brick has a plastic to achieve and more susceptible to builder error. also ages well, is robust, and compared to alterna - appeal’, says Matt Swanton. ‘Depending on how you Weston Williamson’s Steve Humphreys also tive solutions, is cost effective.’ Matt Swanton, express colour, texture and jointing, it can become a acknowledges brick’s ‘plastic’ appeal, suggesting that architect at Re-Format, also attests to brick’s single unified material that you can really carve advances in construction technology have allowed universal appeal. ‘The contemporary nature of our with.’ Swanton likens brick to a ‘coat hanger’ or architects to push the boundaries of what is possible designs have in the past made some clients nerv - framework for the whole building, which can be with brick, enabling the material to be used sculp - ous’, he says, ‘but the moment brick is introduced, pushed and pulled as desired, or used to hang differ - turally rather than as a loadbearing element. For they relax because it is something they understand ent materials on. This is in contrast to lightweight RCKa, it is brick’s ability to be viewed and appreciated and can relate to.’ cladding systems, where technical aspects relating to at different scales that garners most appeal. ‘On close Brick appeals to architects for many different rea - surface fixings, support frames and membranes, inspection, the depth of colour and texture become sons, but for Re-Format it is the material’s ability to make the pursuit of clean lines and material homo - very apparent’ Tim Riley explains. ‘But stepping back, transcend its apparently simple modular nature that geneity across the facade much more difficult the facade as a whole adopts a natural patina,

16 • BB WINTER 2011 properties not apparent with many other materials.’ in details such as virtually flush window reveals that Above Meadow Street, Preston, Lancashire, In recent years the requirement for improved are not particularly suited to the British climate. by RCKa (completion Winter 2012). Won in competition, this social housing scheme is designed thermal performance in buildings has changed the Our response has been to investigate projecting to create a vibrant streetscape through the way that building envelopes are designed, and with brickwork techniques to counter this trend.’ volumetric play and expression of individual brick it the way brick is used. But brick can still offer a Matt Swanton of Re-Format is wary of a return to dwellings. Brick colour (umber, terracotta and grey) and bond (quarter stretcher) are combination of aesthetic appeal and performance, decoration, but instead emphasises the ability of intended to complement the surrounding says Stephen Proctor. ‘Improved thermal standards brick to focus attention on form and massing context, providing a strong sense of community have led to larger wall cavities in traditional mason - and local identity. Stepped elevations and brick- rather than surface articulation. ‘Although there is deep window reveals give the impression of ry construction’, he explains. ‘We are looking at a great deal of opportunity to reinvent the use of solidity and security. cost-effective ways of achieving interesting bonds brickwork, this can result negatively in pattern Left Seraph Court, London, by RCKa (completion Spring 2012). Located on an infill site, the scheme without creating cold bridges across the cavity. making and an attempt to subvert common held comprises eight flats and a penthouse apartment. Modern construction methods have also resulted views of how brickwork can be used’, he argues. ‘In The facades utilise a twice-fired pale umber brick many ways we respect the historic and logical devel - set against an almost white mortar with brushed joints. A quarter stretcher bond with a change opment of brick detailing, and the ability to of direction every six courses gives a subtle provide a monolithic, plastic and unified form. herringbone pattern. Specially detailed brick sills, parapets and lintels ensure visual restraint PRP’s Rick Burgess notes the ability of clean and and material continuity. crisp masonry details to reinforce perceptions of Opposite above B5 Clapham Park, London, depth, plane, solid, void and thickness – formal by PRP Architects (October 2010). Comprising 85 affordable homes, B5 is the first residential phase or spatial sensations, rather than those of surface of the 38 hectare Clapham Park masterplan. decoration. Burgess also cites the influence of Rendered in brick and punctured with deep-set windows, the buildings have a robust urban outer historical architects, who were able to articulate edge that contrasts with lighter, layered private buildings simply by moving lines of brickwork in inner courtyards. Subtle brick detailing is used to and out. This created strong shadows, which in articulate the facades, while a combination of smooth- and rough-faced bricks provide variation turn increased mass definition and street rythmn. in light reflectance and weathering over time Weston Williamson’s current focus is on explor - (ph: Clive Smith). Opposite below ing the brick module and investigating the potential Star Road, London, by PRP Architects (completion May 2012). One of of brick soffit panels. The latter is also a source of the aims of the scheme, which accommodates interest for Panter Hudspith and relates to a long- 18 affordable apartments, is to reinstate a coher - ent street frontage. The use of stock brick as the running practice debate on structural expression. main external material pays homage to London’s Simon Hudspith recounts that when the office was traditional domestic architecture. Alternating formed 25 years ago, the general consensus was that courses of Flemish and running bond, combined with protruding bricks and glass blocks provide brick had to be absolutely expressive of what was surface texture.

BB WINTER 2011 • 17 Above Warwick Crescent, Portsmouth, Hampshire by Re-Format (November 2011). Forming part of a larger regeneration scheme, the three-storey building houses seven family dwellings. Elements of traditional Portsmouth red brickwork cascade from a datum line at parapet level. The entrance to each dwelling is articulated using a single wrapping element that coordinates the vertical circulation, entrance porch and storage/meters. Right Gosport Railway Station, Hampshire, by Re-Format (2010). The regen - eration of a grade-2 listed railway station has incorporated 35 residential apartments. A buff-coloured was brick chosen to complement the original masonry, while the rhythm of the existing platform archways was extended through the scheme (ph: Nigel Rigden). occurring structurally within the building. This atti - When it comes to working with brick on site, all tude has gradually changed as architects have six architects express strong opinions. ‘One of the embraced new technologies and construction tech - benefits of brick is its potential for quality’, says niques. ‘The brick soffit’, says Hudspith by way of an Steve Humphreys, ‘so there really isn’t any excuse example, ‘could historically only be used on bridges for delivering it without adequate site control.’ A and viaducts in the form of a compressive arch. But traditional yet effective method of ensuring quality actually it works extremely well on the underside of control favoured by many of the practices is the building overhangs in terms of material expression brick sample panel. According to Humphreys these and visual interest. In the past it was necessary to need to be large enough to express the subtleties of use a rendered soffit or metal panels because the the design with regards to joint depth and finish, technology was not available to achieve this eco - and batch/colour mixing. Re-Format combines nomically using brick. These kinds of advances generic sample panels with full-size sample details open up whole new ways of composing elevations’. where required, ensuring both are clearly visible Material and structural honesty is also a concern and constantly referred to on site. of RCKa. ‘There is a constant debate in the office Drawings also have a key role to play. Simon as to whether there is a need to design out steel Hudspith finds that three-dimensional detail window lintels in brick facades’, says Tim Riley. ‘We drawings can be a highly effective method of are currently working on an Arts & Crafts house in demonstrating to bricklayers how to start and finish Richmond, and as a result have been experiment - unusual or complex details. He also advocates dis - ing with details that don’t need modern window cussing details with bricklayers and generally support systems. Our aim is to use brick as it was enthusing them about the nature of the work. Both originally intended, but we are equally mindful that Re-Format’s Matt Swanton and Stephen Proctor the resulting details should also be workable in a agree that communication and encouragement is modern context and not too expensive.’ vital to getting good results on site. RCKa has even

18 • BB WINTER 2011 Above 80-118 Spa Road, London, by Weston Williamson Architects (2011). Located in the heart of the Bermondsey Street regeneration area, the scheme comprises 48 mixed-tenure residential units. The massing and mate - riality are aimed at simplifying the envelope and ensuring key elements are executed with consistency and quality. Facing brickwork was chosen for reasons of cost, weathering and minimal maintenance (ph: Tim Crocker). Below 106 Weston Street, London, by Weston Williamson Architects (full planning approval July 2010). A muted brick in buff and grey colour varia - tions is proposed for this five-storey mixed-use commercial and residential scheme that forms part of the Bermondsey Street Conservation Area. The architect has also specified a non-standard 228x108x54mm brick module. gone the lengths of sending one of its architects on a bricklaying course. ‘This has enabled us to speak the same language as the bricklayers, and when nec - essary, challenge deficient working methods with great assurance’, explains Tim Riley. This is part of a wider immersion into the culture of brick design by the practice, which has included factory visits and the recruitment of an experienced ceramicist. Concerns over quality of construction on site have led Weston Williamson and PRP to explore the potential of prefabricated masonry panels and brick details. The latter has successfully incorporat - ed precast concrete lintels with brick facings (including the underside) into several of its resi - dential projects, saving both time and money. PRP’s Rick Burgess says that the success of this approach in other sectors means that it could be a viable model for future housing schemes. From familiarity and aesthetic appeal to per - formance and buildability, the list of brick’s advan - tages identified by these six practices is extensive. But it is the opportunities brick offers for virtually limitless invention that ensure its continued appeal and appropriateness for housing.

BB WINTER 2011 • 19 PRECEDENT

Behrens’ brickwork While not as well known as his work for AEG in Berlin, Peter (1910-11). But, after the first world war, it was Hans Döllgast Behrens’ Hoechst dyeworks headquarters in Frankfurt who assisted on Hoechst, with its three-storey administrative (1924) is arguably a more compelling early example of cor - wing, a full-height entrance hall, plus the distinctive tower and porate design. A comprehensive essay in brickwork, the bridge. If the exterior massing and detailing refers to medieval building features a distinctive arch and tower, which 23 years German traditions, the interior also conveys a dynamic, Peter Behrens’ Hoechst HQ brings after its completion, was adopted as the company logo. expressionist spirit. The brickwork, painted in colour wash (to together medieval and expressionist Born in 1868, Behrens studied art in his home city of advertise the company’s dyes) and recently restored, corbels Hamburg, as well as in Karlsruhe and Düsseldorf. Moving to out into the atrium, emphatically reducing and concentrating ideas. Photos: Infraserv-Hoechst. Munich in 1890, his early graphics were typical of Jugendstil, the available daylight. The space represents the culmination of the German branch of art nouveau, but it was at Darmstadt Behrens’ mission to make places that need little light, an inten - artists’ colony that Behrens built his first architectural proj - tion consistent with Le Corbusier’s ‘play of masses brought ect – his own rather clumsy house – in 1899. Seven years later together in light’, but with a strikingly different outcome. he was commissioned by AEG to design its promotional mate - Details Iain Boyd White is giving a talk on Peter Behrens (10 January) at rial and, in 1808-09, the celebrated Turbinenhalle. Assistants Docomomo in the Brick Development Association-sponsored Modernism and in his Berlin office famously incuded Walter Gropius (1907- Brick series. Subsequent talks include Anna Douglas on Laurie Baker (14 Feb), Judi Loach on Italian Rationalists (20 March) and Stephen Kite on Colin St John 10), Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (1908-11), and Le Corbusier Wilson (17 April). Further details: www.docomomo-uk.co.uk. 20 • BB WINTER 2011 BB WINTER 2011 • 21 Hardwood door frame 50mm Rockwool 50mm Rockwool 50 x 20mm al. box section C A 2 layers 12.5mm plasterboard C bonded to glass at centre of pane B 2 layers 12.5mm plasterboard on 1000 gauge vapour control powder coated to match meeting on 1000 gauge vapour control layer & air leakage barrier layer & air leakage barrier Celotex FR4000 insulation 520 stiles of Fineline sliders (residential). TECHNICAL o All windows 2000mm and wider. Celotex FR4000 insulation 5 8

sealant 450 sealant 0 5 1

1 Hardwood door frame 50mm Rockwool 50mm Rockwool 50 x 20mm al. box section C A 2 layers 12.5mm plasterboard C bonded to glass at centre of pane B 2 layers 12.5mm plasterboard 0 on 1000 gauge vapour control powder coated to match meeting on 1000 gauge vapour control EE 5 layer & air leakage barrier EE layer & air leakage barrier DD65 Celotex FR4000 insulation 520 DD1 stiles of Fineline sliders (residential). All windows 2000mm and wider. Celotex FR4000 insulation Collingwood UL030 LED luminaire 5 60mm Celotex FR4060 60mm Celotex FR4060 8 5

75mm Celotex FR4075 75mm Celotex FR4075 1 2

sealant 450 sealant 0 5 1

1 C 183 nts A 18mm wbp ply 183 ntsC 183 nts B 18mm wbp ply 183 nts

epdm epdm 0 E E 5 EE 65 1 galvanized steel guard rail DCelotex FR4075 D Celotex FR4075 DD @1100 from ffl Web Dynamics UV 25 breather membrane (black) Web Dynamics UV 25 breather membrane (black) Collingwood UL030 perforated brick on edge perforated brick LEDon edge luminaire

60mm Celotex FR4060 60mm Celotex FR4060 5

75mm Celotex FR4075 75mm Celotex FR4075 1 plan through typical pier with vent plan through typical pier 2

1 1 1 C 183 nts A 18mm wbp ply 183 ntsC 183 nts B 18mm wbp ply 183 nts epdm epdm galvanized steel guard rail Celotex FR4075 Celotex FR4075 @1100 from ffl 50mm Rockwool 75mm Celotex FR4075 Web Dynamics UV 25 breather membrane60mm Celotex (black) FR4060 Web Dynamics UV 25 breather membrane (black) veneered external perforated brick on edge perforated brick on edge 2 layers 12.5mm epdm. epdm. grade door plasterboard on s

t 1000 gauge vapour

n T bar control layer & air Perforated brick piers provide a source of natural ventilation for a mixed- 0 Web Dynamics UV 25 Web Dynamics UV 25

0 leakage barrier

1 plan throughbreather membranetypical (black) pier with ventbreather membrane (black) plan through typical pier 1 use commercial and residential development by Munkenbeck & Partners.

dpm. Collingwood UL030 LED luminaire FFL 1 1 1 and floor beam. However, calculations Located in London, 55 Gee Street by 5 0 Munkenbeck & Partners comprises indicated that a single continuous 3000 square metres of offices and six structural element could be used by supply air plenum50mm Rockwool Terca special75mm SL.1.3 Celotex FR4075 60mm Celotex FR4060 apartments. An insitu concrete frame extending the insulation internally. This 215 x 65 x 40 veneered external 2 2 layers 12.5mm also made it eas2 ier to achieve a high epdm. epdm. supports post-tensioned slabs thagradet spa doorn 5 plasterboard on s t quality fair-faced finish1000. gauge vapour

almost n ine metres, resulting in column- T bar control layer & air 0 Web Dynamics UV 25 Web Dynamics UV 25 0 Located behind each pleakageier is a barrier cavity,

free floo1 r plates. The facade is expressed breather membrane (black) breather membrane (black) 1 breather membrane, and 60-75mm of

as an apparently random pattern of m m rigid polyisocyanurate foam insulation. dpm. section D-D section E-E brick piers interspersed with concealed 2 1

EPDM 1 vent door amended, kee Collingwood UL030 frameless windows. Laid in a half-lap stretcher bond, the klamp removed, steel LED luminaire @ FFL C5 guard rail added 01 11 10 s

bricks are tied b2 ack to 18mm wbp ply - Celotex FR4040 e

Perforated wire-cut bricks laid on 7 s insulation next to window r 5 5 u

wood (fixed to the outer face of the 0 jambs amended. epdm their sides provide a source of natural stainless steel pressing o c

instead of Bituthene at cill. concrete columns) through an EPDM . ventilation, and are expressive of perme - o Note on external luminaire n C4 amended. 04 08 10 membrane. Attached to the rear face of 7 ability between inside and out. Alfred supply air plenum 2 Terca special SL.1.3 C3 Kee Klamp added 30 07 10 215 x 65 x 40 the brickwork is an insect mesh. 5 Munkenbeck, founding partner at 2 0 2 C2 false window stile added25 05 10 2 Internally, there are two piers per 5 Munkenbeck & Partners, says the con - 50mm Rockwool & vapour

floor that have d1 oors revealing the back control layer added. vent door 7

cept came from drying barns in 6 5 0

8 ironmongery added. light 5 1 northern Italy, where terracotta blocks of the brickwork. Cross ventilation can 1 C1 fitting bracket amended 26 04 10 be achieved by opening the doors FOR CONSTRUCTION m are laid crosswise without render to m section D-D section E-E 1 2 1 in conjunction with windows located on 1

allow the breeze through. EPDM 1 vent door amended, kee klamp removed, steel

the opposite side of the building. @ m Insitu concrete corbels support the Munkenbeck+Partners C5 guard rail added 01 11 10 s 2

m Celotex FR4040 e

7 s 2 Architects insulation next to window r 5

brick piers at each floor level. The origi - 1 u

1 jambs amended. epdm o 135 Curtain Rd London EC2A 3BX stainless steel pressing

Credits Architect: Munkenbeck & Partners; structure: c nal intention was to employ a thermal instead of Bituthene at cill. @ T 020 7739 3300 F 020 7739 3390 .

o Note on external luminaire DewMac; services: DSA Engineering; qs: Jackson Coles s n e C4 amended. 04 08 10

break at the joint between the corbel s

Rockwoolmain contractor: Morgan Sindall; photos: Dennis Gilbert. Commercial Façade 7 r 2 150 150 475 u 150 150 150 150 o Details C3 Kee Klamp added 30 07 10 c 5

22 • BB WINTER 2011 . 0 o Project Gee Street C2 false window stile added25 05 10 2 n

insulation thickness clari- 7 50mm Rockwool & vapour 2 Date April 2010 C6 fied. LED fitting revised1 25 11 10 control layer added. vent door 7

Scale 1:5 @ A1 6 5 C6 0 vent door amended, kee 8 ironmongery added. light 5

By 1 klamp removed, steel 1 C1 fitting bracket amended 26 04 10 C5 guard rail added 01 11 10 Check section A-A (vent) section B-B (non vent) section C-C (window) Job 0809 Dwg No 346 FOR CONSTRUCTION 1 1

m Munkenbeck+Partners m

2 Architects 1 1

135 Curtain Rd London EC2A 3BX

@ T 020 7739 3300 F 020 7739 3390

s e

Rockwool s Commercial Façade r

150 150 475 u 150 150 150 150 o Details c

.

o Project Gee Street n

insulation thickness clari- 7 C6 fied. LED fitting revised 25 11 10 2 Date April 2010 Scale 1:5 @ A1 vent door amended, kee C6 klamp removed, steel By C5 guard rail added 01 11 10 Check section A-A (vent) section B-B (non vent) section C-C (window) Job 0809 Dwg No 346 BB WINTER 2011 • 23 B

BDA CONSERVATION SEMINAR THURSDAY 15th MARCH 2012 R BUILDING CENTRE, 26 Store Street, London, WC1E 7BT £60 for full day event, £30 for students 10am-5pm (lunch provided) I

FIRST TO LAST C DURABILITY: A brick building can last for at least 150 years

INNOVATION: Maximum versatility in design creativity K SUSTAINABILITY: Long term building performance

LONGEVITY: Lack of maintenance required B LOCAL: Provides local jobs whilst producing local resources

COST: The most cost-e ective building material U

The Brick Development Association (BDA) which represents the majority of the United Kingdom and Ireland’s clay brick and paver industries has organised a seminar to dispel any misconceptions about using brick including cost, L durability and environmental issues and why brick ticks all the boxes as a natural building material. The seminar will cover: AGENDA: SPEAKERS: L New Technologies within the Industry Lime Technology Ltd

The Princes Foundation approches to Materials and Skills Prince’s Foundation E Kiln fired bricks an explanation on the Process of Manufacture H G Mathews Historic Brickwork and Good Practice Bulmer Brick and Tile

General Overview of the Bricks within the Industry- History and Future Michael Driver T Gauged Brickwork - History and Living Tradition Dr. Gerard Lynch Practical demonstration on craftsmanship in Bricklaying Emma Simpson

Correct Historic Development to our Built Environment SPAB I

Case Study of St. Pancras Chambers Irvine Whitlock N Decay in Traditional Brickwork and the Solutions Terrence Lee The sustainability credentials of Brick and Current Policies Surrounding the Industry Simon Hay Brick Awards 2012, Brick Bulletin and BDA technical advice Sarah Huelin Presentation of the SILVER TROWEL AWARD This seminar will be of benefit to everyone involved in the specification of brick and masonry walling systems, in- cluding architects, surveyors, specifiers, developers and engineers, as well as planners, conservation ocers, local councillors, architectural students, the National Trust and English Heritage.

FOR BOOKING INFORMATION VISIT THE BUILDING CENTRE WEBSITE ON WWW.BRICK.ORG.UK /BRICK SUSTAINABILITY